What You Get for ... $250,000

An antebellum house in Keokuk, Iowa, a city in the southeast corner of the
state, where the Des Moines River meets the Mississippi, is on the
market for $249,999.Credit
Matthew Holst for The New York Times

BRADENTON, FLORIDA

WHAT: A two-bedroom two-bath cottage

HOW MUCH: $250,000

SIZE: 1,452 square feet

PER SQUARE FOOT: $172.17

SETTING: This 1938 cottage is in a residential neighborhood on the banks of the Manatee River. It’s about a mile west of downtown Bradenton and within a half-mile of several restaurants, shops, and a supermarket, mostly along Manatee Avenue.

Anna Maria Island, bordered by the Gulf of Mexico, Tampa Bay, Longboat Pass and Sarasota Bay, has several beaches, and is about a 20-minute drive away. There’s also a park a block from the house.

INSIDE: The cottage was partially renovated by its previous owner, a carpenter. There is a living room and foyer/breakfast nook that was once an outdoor porch. The living and dining area have bamboo columns, a wall of built-in cabinets and shelves, and two built-in speakers. The bedrooms are upstairs. The master is surrounded by trees, and the second, used as a study, has built-in closets and drawers. The staircase has an original hand-wrought steel railing with a mangrove and fish design, and two stained-glass panels, both done by local artists. The floors are bamboo and parquet throughout.

OUTDOOR SPACE: The house is on a third of an acre, surrounded by a variety of trees, including palm, key lime, tangerine, Minneola tangelo, loquat, banana and pineapple. There’s also a covered patio with a garden, and a trellis with a swing.

A 1938 cottage a few blocks from the banks of the Manatee River is
on the market in a residential section of Bradenton for $250,000.Credit
Chip Litherland for The New York Times

SETTING: This carriage house is on a brick-paved alley in German Village, a historic neighborhood just south of Downtown Columbus. The house is a block south of Schiller Park (where the Actors’ Theater hosts free Shakespeare performances during the summer), and just north of the park is Third Street, the neighborhood’s main commercial strip. (Local spots include the Book Loft, 32 rooms of used books and a cafe, and Schmidt’s Sausage Haus.)

INSIDE: The structure was originally a five-vehicle garage and converted to a single-family residence in 1979. The lower level has tile flooring and open-plan common areas, including living and dining areas, and a kitchen. The bedrooms are linked by a hallway on the second floor, accessible by a central spiral staircase. One of the bedrooms is currently used as an office.

OUTDOOR SPACE: A deck and garden, accessible by French doors in the living room

SETTING: Keokuk is a city of about 11,500 in southeastern Iowa, where the Des Moines River meets the Mississippi, at the northern border of Missouri and the western border of Illinois. This house is in a residential area one block from the edge of a bluff that overlooks the Mississippi. There are several restaurants, a coffee shop and other business on Main Street, about five blocks southwest. Farther north, Main grows more lanes, and at the edge of town, there are some larger grocers and a Wal-Mart.

INSIDE: The house was built in 1855. The current owners have periodically updated the interior with fresh paint and wallpaper, stainless-steel appliances in the kitchen, new fixtures and vanities in the bathrooms, and floor-to-ceiling bookshelves in the library. Ceilings downstairs are 12 feet tall. The house's four bedrooms are upstairs. One is used as an office, two have balconies, and two have fireplaces. Also upstairs is a passage leading to an observation tower.

OUTDOOR SPACE: The yard behind the house is landscaped with apple, peach and cherry trees, and an herb garden.